For many years the construction of stud frame walls or "framing" of a building has been performed manually. One or more carpenters fasten a plurality of elongate stud members in parallel at spaced intervals between a pair of plate members. The plate members extend horizontally and form the upper and lower margins of the frame wall with the stud members extending vertically between them.
Unfortunately, manual framing is, of course, labor intensive and as such, relatively expensive. In addition, it should be appreciated that there are relatively few carpenters who have developed their skills to the level necessary to consistently produce high quality frame walls. Recognition of these problems has led to the application of mass production techniques to this area of the art. More specifically, automated machinery has been developed to produce prefabricated frame walls at a remote location. The prefabricated frame walls are then shipped to and erected at the building site.
It is also known to fabricate frame walls with automated machinery at the building site. An apparatus and method to achieve this end is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,538 to Schultz, et al. The Schultz, et al. apparatus includes a pair of stud selecting plates to transfer a stud from a rack and position it between the plates of the frame wall. Nailers then securely fasten the stud in position with the ends of the stud engaging the interior faces of the plates. After the plates are advanced, plate spreaders pull the plates apart to allow placement of the next stud between the plates. This procedure continues until each frame wall is completed.
While the apparatus and method disclosed in the Schultz, et al. patent provide for relatively efficient fabrication of frame walls at the building site, they are not without their disadvantages and, thus, can be improved. More specifically, by spreading the plates in order to allow the introduction of the next stud into position, the fastening between the previously nailed stud and plates is loosened. The instability characteristic of the resulting frame wall makes it difficult to handle. In many instances it will also require repair before use. A need is therefore identified for an improved apparatus and method for prefabricating frame walls for installation at a building site.